Emergency brake lever



April 7, 1942. l T, F. CHAs/,E 2,278,645

A EMERGENCY BRAK LEVER Filed Jan. s, 1946 Patented Apr. 7, 1942 EIWERGENCY BRAKE LEVER Theron P. Chase, Detroit, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application January s, 194e, serial No. 312,835

2 Claims.

This invention relates to vehicle brakes and is concerned more particularly with an applying means for emergency operation of said brakes.

An object of the invention is the provision oi conveniently accessible means whereby operation of the brakes is made possible without delay in an emergency.

Other objects and advantages will be understood from the description which follows:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a vehicle chassis and parts of the body, together with the emergency brake operating means mounted thereon.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from within the body to show the relation of the steering column, panel and emergency brake lever.

Figure 3 is a plan view on a larger scale than Figure 1, showing the manually operable lever and related parts. v

Figure 4 is a plan view showing certain parts displaced from their positions shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

On the drawing, reference character I I is used to designate one of the longitudinal members of a vehicle frame and I3 is a cross member. The frame is mounted on from; wheels I5 and rear wheels I1. Each Wheel has a brake drum I9. The shoe assemblies within the drum are not shown. They may be of any preferred form. The service brake system is not illustrated for the reason that it is not a part of this invention.

For emergency operation the brakes of the rear wheels only are used. They are actuated by tension members 2l extending through housings 23 and into the drums. The members 2l are connected at 25 to a mid-point of lever 21, the latter being terminally pivoted to a bracket 29 secured to cross frame member I3. To the other end of lever 21 is connected a link 3Q, the link extending to a lever 3l suitably mounted on the chassis. From lever 3| a cable 33 extends to the end of a lever 35 which lever is mounted on the body in a way to be described.

Secured at 31 and 3S to a ange of the instrument panel 40 of the body and to a body member 42 respectively is an anchorbracket 4I. The bracket is bent as shown immediately forward of the instrument panel so that it lies below the panel a shown in Figure 2. On a vertical pivot 43 carried by the bracket is rotatably supported a horizontally extending hand lever 45. The hand lever is U-shape in section for the greater part of its length and its pivoted end takes the form of spaced plates 41 and 49 strad- Vclling the anchor plate 4I at the pivot. Plates 41 and 49 are bent and spaced apart, near the pivot as shown best by Figure 5. A reversely curved ratchet releasing lever is marked 5I. It, too, is oi LJ-shape in section so that it may be received within the lever 45. Its iiat ends 53 and 55 lie within plates 41 and 49 and are pivoted by a pin 51 which extends through plates 41 and 49. A slot 59 is formed in bracket 4I to permit movement of the pin 51 as it moves with lever 45 about the center of rotation of the lever at 43. Pin 51 also extendsthrough an aperture 6I of a segmental ratchet plate 63, the plate being provided with teeth 65. Pin 51 also extends through an aperture in lever 35. The ratchet plate has a slot 61 to receive a pin 69 carried by anchor plate 4I. Another pin 1I connects the lever 35 and the plates 41 and 49 of lever 45. Plates 53 and 55 of lever 5I have enlarged openings through which the pin 1I passes. Pivoted on pin 1I and adjacent arm 41 is a pawl 13 adapted to engage teeth 65 and biased to eiect such engagement by a spring 15. Levers 5I and 45 are normally spaced and occupy the positions shown by Figure 3 under the action of a coil spring 11. When so positioned, spring 15 may hold the pawl 13 in contact with the ratchet teeth. When lever 5I is depressed into the recess of lever 45, a face 13 of lever 5I engages the pawl and rotates it away from the ratchet teeth. Suitable noise preventing means such as a rubber block 3l is secured to the end of lever 5I.

It will be noticed that lever 4,5 extends horizontally and that it is curved to extend around the forward side of the steering column 83. It then extends to the rear to bring the hand grip at its end somewhere near a mid-point transversely of the vehicle. It is therefore in a position readily accessible for the operator and also it can easily be reached by the passenger seated at the right of the driver. In operation the lever is drawn toward the rear. When so rotated` the lever 35 which is connected to lever 45 by pins 51 and 1I is similarly rotated and the brakes of the rear wheels are spread into frictional engagement with the drums at the same time pin 51 cooperating with fixed pin 59 and slot 61 `rotates the ratchet 63 from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 4. By this'means the ratchet has a rotation of its own in a direction which is opposite that of the lever 45. When the brake lever rotation ceases the pawl prevents its return since its return requires a reverse rotation of the power end between the sides thereof, said lever being shaped to pass in front of said steering column and terminating in a hand grip rigid with the lever adjacent the vertical plane of the panel.

2. The invention defined by claim 1, the horizontal plane of said lever being slightly below the panel.

THERON P. CHASE. 

